St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1887-01-22
THE GREAT DISTRIBUTION.
Sermon by Rev. T. De Witt Ia4-
mage, d. D.
A New Apportfoument-The Earth to BE
Captured for Christ-Heaven TO lie
shared by the Redeemed and the
UnfalIen-Final Rewards.

Of Rewards " was the subject of DR.. Tai
mage's sermon this morning. He chose
for his text part of the twelfth verse OF
the ifty-third chapter of Isaiah: & he
shall divide the spoil with the strong"
Following is the sermon:
Ny family, who saw it with their eyes
year before last, tell me that in the Col
iseum at Rome, where prosecutors used to
let out half-starved lions to eat up Chris
tans. there is now planted the figure Of a
cross. And rejoice to know that the up
right piece of wood nailed to a transverse
piece has become the symbol, not more of
suffering than of victory. 1t is of Christ
the Conqueror that my text speaks. AS
kngly warrior, having subdued an en-
pire, might divide the palaces, and man
sions, and cities, and valleys, and mount
aims, among his officers, SO Christ is going
to divide up all the earth and all the
heavens among His people, and you and
will have to take our share if we are
strong in faith and strong in our Christian
loyalty, for my text declares it: " He shall
divide the spoil with the strong"
The capture of this round planet for
Christ is not so much of job as you might
imagine, when the church takes off its coat
and rolls up its sleeves for the work,
j~tVVotOOo1cco pSS-
pie now in the world, and there
are 45O,O00,0OO Christians. Subtract the
100000 who are Christians from
the 1209O 1000, GOO and there are 1885,
10000 left to be Chrstianized. Now divide
the II, $50 100000 by the 450, 000, 900 already
Christianized, and it makes only twenty
five people for each Christian to bring to
Christ. Surely, when the church gets
wide awake, no Christian will be content
to take to Heaven less than twenty-five.
Why, hope to take with me ut least 10,-
600. I know evangeiists that have already
gathered $1,000 each for the kingdom. There
are at least 100000 men in Christendom
whose one business it is to save souls. So
that when I tell you all that we need to
average is twenty-five souls reaped for
God in lifetime, all idea of impossibility
vanishes from this omnipotent crusade.
know Of d Sabbath-school teacher who
has spent her lifetime in teaching the
young, and she has had five different
classes during all these years, and she tells
me they averaged about seven in class,
and they were all converted, and five times
seven are thirty-fve, as near as can cal
culate. She brought her twenty-five, and
had ten to spare. My grandmother
brought her whole family into the king
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all her great-grandchildren for God re-
members prayer seventy. five years old
as well as though it were minute; and
she took her twenty-five into the kingdom
and had at least one hundred to spare Be-
sides that the telegraph and the telephone
will, within few years, put the whole
earth into compass of ten minutes. Con-
slider this, and also that Omnipotence,
Omniscience and Omnpresence preside
over all the work of betterment, and you
will take this enterprise of the worlds re-
dempticn out Of the impossibilities into the
possibilities, and then out of the possibili-
ties into the probabilities, and then out of
the probabilities into the certain ties. The
building of the Union Pacific railroad from
pecan to ocean was greater undertaking
than the girdling of the earth with the
Gospel, for the one enterprise depended
upon the human arm while the other de-
Ponds upon Almightiness.
Do I really mean all the earth will sur
'ender to Christi Yes. How about the
portions? Will Greenland be
The possibility is that after
few more hundred brave lives are dashed
'ut among The icebergs, that great refrig-
rator, the Polar region, will be given up |
o the walrus and the bear, and the inhab- |
tants will come down by invitation into |
olerable climates, or those climates may |
often, and, as it has been positively dem
that the Arctic region was once
blooming garden and fruitful field,
hose regions may change climate and
gam be blooming garden and fruitful
eld. It is proved beyond controversy by
herman and American scientists that the
arctic regions were the first portions Of
his world inhabitable; the world hot be-
ond human endurance, those regions
we're of course the first to be cool enough
or human foot and human lung 1t is
proved that that Arctic region
vas tropical climate.
Prof Heer, of Zurich, says the remains
t flowers have been found in the Arctic,
howing it was like Mexico for climate,
nd it is found that the Arctic is the moth
r region from which all the flowers de-
cended. Prof. Wallace says the remains
all styles OF animal life are found in the
Arctlc, including those animals that can
We only In warm climates Now that
lrctlc region which has been demonstrate
d by hora and fauna and geographical ar
ument to have been as full of vegetation
nd life as our Florida, may be turned
ack to its original bloom and glory, or it
Till be shut up as museum of crystals for
lriosity- seekers once in awhile to visit.
Tut Arctic and Antarctic in some shape
ill belong to the Redeemer's realm.
What about other unproductive or re-
ulsive regions7 All the deserts will beir-
igated. the waters will be forced up to the
reat American desert between here and
ne Pacific by machinery now known or yet
} be invented, and, as great Salt Lake
ity has no rain and could not raise an
pple Or bushel of wheat in one hundred |
ears without artificial help, but is now
trough such means one great garden, 50
IL the unproductive parts Of all the eonti-
ents will be turned into harvest fields and
richards. A aalf-aozen De Lesseps will I
lrnish the world with all the canals I
eeded, and will change the course Of rivers !
nd open new lakes, and the great Sahara {
esert will be cut up into farms with an
sounding yield Of bushels to the acre.
he marsh will be drained of it's waters .
Id cured Of its malaria.
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